Concerning Black Asher

From a Haunt Resident:

Asher Black is rumored to have an alter ego.

Black Asher has the voice of a smoker. Not dry, but a little rough. But his voice is also like the bitterest and smoothest of chocolate, the kind one takes in small bits and toasts over the flame of candle late at night. One sinks slightly into that voice whenever he speaks, without quite being aware of it until one must move to extricate oneself afterward.

He has been called “persuasive”, “resourceful”, “ingenious”, “impetuous” and something of a “miscreant”, but he has a penchant for conspiracy. He has a tendency to teach, even when he doesn’t mean to. His style in everything has the flair of the passionate romantic. He is moody, ranging from delirious comedy to fits of dark brooding.

He is tall, very dark haired, limber, always wears all black, down to his exquisite socks and lacy black wingtips or calf-length black boots. Favors trenchcoats, sometimes but rarely wears a “sam spade” hat. Smokes a pipe – generally black sandblast briar.

He will not say where he is from, and is capable of a variety of strange or foreign accents, and bits of language. His parents, he says, are long dead, and he has no family. It is rumored that he has a secret love. He is also a heretic of several churches.

Familiar with the knife, suggesting a rough background, yet his tastes run to fastidious refinery. He cooks, usually Italian, favors certain wines and liquors but is never drunk, prefers a blend of tobacco that is moist pitch black but not overly sweet laced with spicy turkish and pungent American indian varieties. He tends to look angry or unhappy when he is only thinking, which is most of the time.

Black Asher has certain unusual capabilities or tendencies.

The Hot Chick

In The Hot Chick Maritza Murray portrays, “Ling-Ling”, a girl who is half African-American, half Korean-American.

After an ebonics-laden exchange of compliments with her African-American friends, she is immediately embarrassed when her Korean mother arrives with her forgotten lunch of kimchi and bulgogi (staple Korean dishes). “Out of all the Korean liquor stores, why did my father have to walk into that one?” Among other troubles, her mother is calling her “Ling Ling” which is a Chinese, not a Korean name. Similarly, the mother is wearing Chinese, not Korean, traditional clothing.

Again, in a shop of African antiques, “Ling Ling” expresses her pride in being an African American but, once again, is immediately ashamed when her Korean mother shows up. The stereotype is reinforced when the mother exclaims that “Ling-Ling” had walked right past the nail shop without stopping to greet her.

In short, the stereotyping, and even truly ignorant stereotyping, makes this otherwise vapid film truly repugnant.